The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had warned that potential 5G interference could affect altitude readings on some jets, with airlines citing the Boeing 777 among the models in the spotlight.
The FAA warned that the new 5G technology could interfere with instruments, such as altimeters, which measure how far above the ground an airplane is traveling.
US airlines have warned the directives could disrupt up to 4 percent of daily flights.
Despite an announcement by AT&T and Verizon that they would pause the 5G rollout near airports, several airlines still canceled flights or switched aircraft models.
In the short-term, AT&T and Verizon agreed to temporarily defer turning on some wireless towers near key airports to avert a significant disruption to US flights.
Longer-term, the FAA needs to clear and allow most of the US commercial airplane fleet to perform low-visibility landings at many airports where 5G C-band will be deployed. This means certifying altimeters to operate near 5G base stations.
Verizon and AT&T have argued that C band 5G has been deployed in about 40 other countries without aviation interference issues.
They have agreed to buffer zones around 50 airports in the US, similar to those used in France, for six months to reduce interference risks.
Currently, 5G mobile communication wireless stations in Europe and Japan are in operation near airports, but there have been no reports of problems.
Wireless carriers in nearly 40 countries throughout Europe and Asia now use the C band for 5G, with no reported effects on radio altimeters that operate in the same internationally designated 4.2-4.4 GHz band.
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